Molded case circuit breakers for both residential and industrial applications are currently designed for automated assembly to substantially reduce their manufacturing costs. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,679,019 and 4,736,174 describe such circuit breaker operating components that are specifically tailored for robotic assembly.
When molded case circuit breakers are equipped with an electronic trip unit arranged on a planar printed wire board assembly, the circuit breaker operating handle is modified to provide clearance between the inside of the circuit breaker cover and the top surface of the printed wire board in order to facilitate movement of the operating handle between the "ON" and "OFF" positions. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 060,576 filed June 11, 1987 entitled "Molded Case Circuit Breaker with Contact Status Indicating Handle" describes one such circuit breaker handle configuration. However, the aforementioned operating handle assembly requires an additional process step for attachment to the handle yoke assembly. It would accordingly be beneficial to attach the circuit breaker operating handle to the handle yoke such that the combined operating handle and handle yoke can be assembled to the circuit breaker operating mechanism in a single operation.
One purpose of the instant invention is to describe a circuit breaker operating handle assembly used with electronic trip units and which includes means for attachment to the handle yoke prior to the assembly of the handle yoke to the circuit breaker operating mechanism in a high speed automated assembly process.